The demand for multimedia, particularly digital video, is continually increasing. Fortunately, there has been a steady increase in available Internet bandwidth to accommodate this demand. However, the available bandwidth for any particular computing device on the Internet varies with the network connectivity of the device. In addition, each computing device may have a different level of resolution and processing capability for handling multimedia.
Different solutions have been developed to accommodate the different capabilities of the computing devices and the various bandwidths available to the computing devices. One solution converts the multimedia into multiple formats at multiple bit rates before sending the multimedia over the Internet. However, this solution requires intensive computation for creating the multiple formats at different bit rates and in addition requires considerable storage space. Another solution compresses video content at a high bit rate using a conventional format. A fast transcoding process is then used. However, this solution is quite computationally complex when multiple contents are served which results in a degradation of the resulting video content during the transcoding process.
The problem with providing multimedia to various computing devices over the Internet is further compounded due to the diverse tasks which users perform with the multimedia on their computing devices, such as video editing, searching, interactive communication, and the like. These different tasks lead to different preferences in presentation styles, formats, and organizations.
Therefore, the ability to provide a seamless media experience over different computing devices and networks for different tasks is still a big challenge with respect to media creation, compression, utilization, storage, and delivery.